Barcelona agree £24.6m fee for France international

 

Barcelona are set to sign Lyon central defender Samuel Umtiti after reaching a £24.6m agreement with the Ligue 1 outfit, reports The Guardian.

 

Luis Enrique’s side have prioritised strengthening their heart of their defence this summer and had strongly been linked with a move for Everton defender John Stones.

 

However, Barcelona were priced out for the young England defender by Everton’s £50m valuation and have since move their attentions to Lyon’s Umtiti.

 

The 22-year-old, who was called into Didier Deschamps’ France squad for Euro 2016 because of injuries to other defenders, is due to make his first senior start for the national team against Iceland in the quarter finals on Sunday.

 

Barcelona agree £24.6m fee for France international

 

Umtiti has made at least 93 more clearances (527) than any other U23 player in Europe’s top five leagues in the last three seasons.

 

For more stats on Samuel Umtiti, click here to visit his WhoScored player page